[AccessD] OT: Quote of the day

On 15 Feb 2006 at 14:31, Susan Harkins wrote:

> student -- in the top 20% -- but not exceptional by any means. When we
> compared SAT scores, a friend of mine -- one of the top 10 seniors -- was
> just increduous that my score was higher than hers. In fact, she went so far
> as to claim they'd made a mistake -- she was truly angry. I was just hurt. A
> teacher I was fond of later explained to me that my friend had to work very
> hard for her grades. She studied relentlessly and put 100% into everything
> she did and here I was -- doing good if I handed in my homework and showed
> up for class 4 days out of 5, and I scored higher than her. 
> 
> Now, the point of that story is -- if, at the same time, that friend and I
> had both taken IQ tests -- she's have probably scored higher than me. 

I doubt that very much.   Based on my reading of the people on this list,  
I reckon I could name several  people here who, in their school days were " 
in the top 20%"  and "doing good if I handed in my homework and showed up 
for class 4 days out of 5".  They are the sort, who ace IQ tests if they 
can be bothered to do them. 

The real smart ones are the one who work out early on just how much they 
have to do to get by comfortably in school.

> My
> success with the SAT's and ACT's was the way they asked questions, not the
> questions themselves. She memorized things, and she memorized a whole lot.
> However, what she didn't memorize, she didn't know.  I just thought through
> the questions and gave the answer that seemed the best. I didn't know the
> answers to most of the questions. I reasoned many answers, I didn't "know"
> the answers. 
> 
Exactly. Knowledge is not intelligence and you should never confuse the 
two. Sounds like the people who design your SATs and ACTS are smart enough 
to know this and are testing the right thing.


-- 
Stuart